I visited the super-duper unbelievably amazing Haradanien Garden (原谷苑) today, in the mountains above the Golden Pavilion temple in northwestern Kyoto. It was my first visit since the photoshoot with John and Ai two years ago.

This time I went with Eric, Gigi, and Damien just to practice portraiture. Gigi wore a kimono she bought yesterday.

I can not begin to tell you how wonderful Haradanien is. When the blossoms are at their peak, such as now, it's 100× better than any other garden I know of, anywhere.

金閣寺の近く、原谷苑、は今メチャメチャメチャ美しいです。 行きにくい所ですが、今週はおすすめです。今日は全然満開でした！

I wanted a different kind of shot of Gigi than Eric did... they tended toward the serious, “refined” look (easy to get with Gigi), but I wanted more levity and spontaneity, so those are the kind of shots I'll share here.

Well, except this one:

Gigi was getting a bit tired, so never one to be shy, Eric approached a couple of ladies and asked whether they'd be interested in having us photograph them. They readily agreed.

They had seemed like best friends, but it turns out that they'd just met each other earlier in the day, here at the garden. I was shocked at how easily they worked together and with us. They said that they weren't models, but they acted like what I imagine a pro model would act like. Super easy and enjoyable to work with.

It was a really fun time, on top of the feeling of accomplishment I have for having ridden my bicycle there (about 40 minutes, including at the end a short but killer 100m ascent over 1,000 meters distance).

It turns out that Joanne is leaving Kyoto today, but Ting Ting will be around for another week, so we may get a chance to meet again.

Continued here...